A Man Of Myth
by Wings Of Sanguine
Summary: A friend of Charlie's has arrived in the Burrow, and Harry Potter only knows one thing: he claims to be a Dragonlord. That, and his name is that of the great sorcerer Merlin. As Voldemort closes in on Hogwarts in their seventh year, he can't help but notice how strange Emrys is about everything, and the portraits in school are getting oddly wary. I DON'T OWN HARRY POTTER OR MERLIN
1. Chapter 1

Harry Potter was stunned when he saw a gangly young man charge at Arthur Weasley on the front lawn of their home in the Burrow. Ron and Hermione were just as perplexed when the parent almost took a step back as the young boy then threw himself at him for a hug.

"Who's he, Ronald?" Hermione asked, glancing up from the rather large book sitting in her lap. Ron and Harry were sitting in the grass, a wizard's chess set sitting between them. Harry resisted the urge to scratch at his ankle as the grass tickled his skin. Overhead, he could hear Fred and George practicing their Quidditch game, whooping and hollering as they smashed a Bludger right into the roof of their father's tool shed.

Ron shrugged, "Probably someone from the Ministry, I'm not really sure."

As Hermione began guessing what part of the Ministry of Magic the man worked in, Harry had to silently disagree. Everything about him was too… personal. The way he held himself- his limbs hung lanquidly on his side, and he was standing just close enough to Arthur to discern that they had become good friends. Normally, people from the Ministry kept their distance, but not this man. It was also the way he looked and spoke with the man- joking and laughing like they were just catching up over tea.

"I think he's your dad's friend, Ron," Harry pointed out, "they seem pretty close."

As if to confirm this hunch, Arthur Weasley wound an arm around the boy's shoulder, ushering him across the lawn and into the house, effectively ignoring the trio of kids sitting in front of his porch. The visitor, however, had noticed, and gave them a quick wink and a grin before Arthur had him up the stairs and inside the house. On the chessboard, a white knight had smashed its dark counterpart to pieces, effectively clearing a space on the board. Fred and George had ceased flying, now approaching them on the lawn as they let the Bludger zoom around a bit, cool itself off.

"Oi, wittle Ronniekins!" Fred teased and George whistled, Ron's cheeks tinging pink as he slumped his shoulders. The porch steps creaked under their weight as they raced inside, George pausing to ask, "Who's the bloke with Dad, eh?"

"I dunno!" Ron said with obvious annoyance, "Don't you have school supplies to get anyway?"

"As do you, so chop chop!"

The kids turned to find Mrs. Molly Weasley glaring at them from the doorway, her large figure taking up a good portion of the frame. She wore a green dress printed with red flowers, a thin, lavender sweater tossed over her shoulders. Ron often descried the fashion choice as his mother's "Sunday Best" and it made Harry grin to himself. Mrs. Weasley would always be a wonderful woman in his eyes, but the colors did raise concerns; the purple of her sweater was not so much purple as it was a white trying to pass as purple, washed one too many times.

"Mum-" Ron began to protest, scowling as he reluctantly followed Harry and Hermione inside. The twins had disappeared (most likely upstairs, given the noise coming from their room), and Mr. Weasley was sitting at the dining table of the kitchen with Bill and Fleur. The newlyweds were overcome with happiness, Bill admiring his wife while she admired the rock on her finger. It wasn't big, but it was still pretty, glittering if she moved her hand a certain way in the light.

The walls of the dining room needed repainting, the brown wood peeling from the works. A dimly lit chandelier was hanging from the ceiling in good need of polishing, and Harry could see the stove working to clean itself. Multiple notes and pictures hung on the walls, a few of them crooked. Light streamed in from the windows, making the room look overall much happier.

That, and it seemed rather cramped, with Arthur Weasley's strange guest sitting across from Bill at the table. His back was to the young wizard, so neither Harry or Ron could get a look at him, aside from his thin frame and somewhat baggy clothes. Hermione raised an eyebrow at his mop of unruly black hair.

"Reminds me a bit of you, Harry," Hermione commented as she squeezed past them and into the room, giving Fluer a one-armed hug. Harry noticed a look of concern flash in her eyes as she sat down, now looking the newcomer in the eye, but it was quickly replaced with a polite smile.

"Ah! Ron and Harry!" Mr. Weasley broke Harry out of his trance and startled him into tearing his glance away from the back of the stranger's head. Beckoning him and Ron over, Arthur added, "Come, sit! Charlie's friend has come to visit!"

The boys exchanged glances as they reluctantly went to sit with Hermione, Bill and Fleur removing themselves from the room to allow Harry and Ron seats at the table. The visitor was quite content in seeing them, the same grin plastered on his face from before. Sitting in front of im now, Harry could see just how thin the boy was, as he was nearly swimming in the red shirt he wore. His cheekbones were so well-defined, Harry found just looking at them was like cutting yourself on a sharp blade. His eyes, however, were the most captivating Harry thought he had ever seen. They were a bright cerulean blue, so deep that they rivaled that of the ocean.

One thing about them was rather strange, though. They seemed out of place on his visage, too old for one so youthful- the man staring back at him seemed no older than twenty at the most.

"So, you must be Ronald," the man teased, playfulness in his tone as he set those pretty blue eye on Ron, who automatically sneered.

"And who are you?" was his smart remark, wincing as Hermione glared at him.

"Ronald!" she chastised, the man chuckling at them.

"Its alright," he assured the young witch, and she went to flattening her bushy brown hair as best she could. Clearing his throat, he added, in Ron's direction, "I'm a friend of your brother, Charlie."

Harry had never met Charlie, with him being off on some extravagant adventure involving more than one magical creature, but Ron's face lit up, as nearly lunged across the table.

" _You're_ the bloke Charlie always writes about in his letters to Mum?!"

"So you read about me then?" the man said nervously, "What has Charlie said about me, exactly…?"

"Only that you're the only Dragon-Lord the wizarding world has come across since _Merlin's_ time!" Ron blurted, "Charlie even sent back a newspaper that had you in it-" Alarm was apparent in the man's eyes as Ron then vaulted over the bench, disappearing into another room to fetch the paper. An awkward silence hung in the air before Hermione cleared her throat.

"Dragonlord?" she said, "Aren't those extinct?"

The stranger shrugged, "And yet here I am, it seems. Uh, Arthur?" The older Weasley glanced up from fiddling with his tie, raising his eyebrows in shock, as if only realizing he was sitting there. Harry noticed the slight discomfort when the man spoke the adult's name.

Weird. Arthur was a fairly common name in his opinion.

"Um, what else has…. Charlie told you?" he tittered nervously, trying (and failing) to put on an air of nonchalance.

"Whatever it says in the letter," Arthur shrugged, "I haven't read it myself. Although I believe Molly stowed it away somewhere-"

"I got it!" Ron interrupted with glee, thrusting the paper at him. A crinkled yellow envelope was pressed against the cover, which Harry could only assume was Charlie's letter to go with the black and white print. The man's face seemed to have paled as he quickly scanned the page, Ron's eyes full of excitement.

"Oh, don't get all in his face, Ron!" Molly Weasley appeared from the stairs with the twins, who had small suitcases with them. She herself had replaced her purple sweater with a long brown coat, tying the belt around her waist.

"But _Mum_ -"

"But nothing! We need to get your school supplies, after all," Molly said, pinching her son's cheeks, "Now we should get to Diagon Alley before it gets crowded." At the mention of 'Diagon Alley' Harry suddenly perked up. He desperately needed his wand fixed, and Hedwig, his pet snowy owl, was in dire need of a new cage. The one Harry kept her in now was rusting with age.

"Diagon Alley?" the man asked, carefully standing himself up. "Are we apparating?"

Harry and he jumped at Molly's sudden burst of laughter as she clapped him on the back, making him keel over from the force of her hand.

"Dear, don't you think it would be too crowded for apparating?" Molly laughed as the man straightened himself, "Really…." Molly trailed off before asking, "I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?"

It was here that Harry realized that he had not introduced himself, aside from the fact that he was Charlie's friend. Harry also realized that he himself had never met Charlie. He made a mental note to ask Ron to introduce them when he got back from wherever it was he, well, was.

"Oh, uh…." the man paused,scrunching his nose, "My name is, uh, Emrys."

" _Wicked_!" Fred and George suddenly exclaimed, their grins looking to crack their faces in half, "You're mother must've _hated_ you!"

The man- Emrys- looked taken aback, asking, "Why would my mother have hated me?"

"It's _obvious_!" George put on an air of fancy, "Only a _loony_ would name their child after the most _famous_ and _powerful_ sorcerer ever to exist!"

Now Emrys had made himself silent, his eyes turning downcast as the twins began to prattle off questions left and right:

"Where are you from?"

"Do you have a best friend named Arthur, just like the legends?"

"Charlie hasn't mentioned you ever, how did you meet?"

"Lay off, Fred, obviously the dragonlord bit is vague, right? They don't exist!"

 _SLAM!_

Emrys had exited, nearly ripping the door off its hinges in the process. Molly glared at the boys, who only raced to the fireplace, shouting their location before disappearing in a cloud of green smoke.

"Those boys, I swear…" Molly muttered under her breath, then, "Harry dear, come on!" Hesitantly, Harry followed the rest of the family, Ron, and Hermione into the fireplace (where Bill and Fleur had gone he didn't know or care.) Immediately, the powder Molly pulled out of a pouch on her person tickled his nose, and he felt as if he was being torn in two as they were forced out of the fireplace and on their way to Diagon Alley.


	2. Chapter 2

Charlie had apparated into his yard, and immediately approached his friend as he saw him storm from his family home. The man's face was scrunched up in anger, tears threatening to spill. Emrys, he knew, had a bad habit of running his hands through his black hair, and he was doing just that, almost ready to yank it out of his scalp until Charlie rushed to grab his hand.

"Emrys, stop that!" Charlie demanded, wrenching his hand away from his skull, "What's wrong?"

There was a pregnant pause as Emrys struggled not to cry, sniffing loudly and wiping his nose on his sleeve. The shirt he wore really was just too big for him, although every time Charlie offered to get him a new one, he refused, saying the one he had was simply too comfortable to give up.

Likely story. Charlie was certain he was just too proud to have someone give him something new, something to call his own.

"Why?"

Charlie blinked, "Why what, Emrys? You're being awfully cryptic, huh?"

It wasn't until Charlie noticed the glint in Emrys' eye, until he thought he possibly saw a flash of gold in those precious baby blues that he realized the full extent of what he had supposedly done. _Shit_ , Charlie thought, clapping a hand to his mouth, widening his eyes. Sure, it wasn't the best reaction, but it was something.

"They read the article?" Charlie breathed, his mouth forming an 'O' of surprise. Emrys nodded, rolling his eyes.

" _Why_ did you have to send them that bloody article in the first place, Charlie?!" Emrys boomed, "I thought-"

"I was _excited_! What do you expect me to do, just sit around and pretend you never told me?!" Charlie protested. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed his parents and siblings stepping out f the house, Ron and his two friends staring at them curiously. What were their names again? Herman and Holly? No, that didn't sound right. _Harry_ , Charlie finally remembered after tuning out Emrys' belligerent ranting, _Yeah, that's it. Harry and Hermione_.

"-stating that if you ever told anyone I'd have to-"

" _Emrys! Alright, I get it_!" Charlie cut off bluntly, "Next time, I won't say anything unless given your permission, Your _Highness_!"

The shock on Emrys' face was new- why, it was strange to Charlie. It was a harmless joke; jokes were meant to be shared. No reason to look so upset over them. Charlie told him so, then turned to his family as they ran at him, "Mum! Dad!"

"Charlie!" Molly Weasley wrapped her arms around her son, pecking him with kisses, "It's been too long-"

"Emrys here is quite something, eh?" Arthur teased, sending Emrys a polite smile. Returning the sentiment, Emrys cleared his throat, "Alright, well, I should be going now. Sorry to disappoint, but Hagrid asked me to accompany him to Diagon Alley to help prepare classes."

Charlie nearly fell over laughing at Fred and George's reactions:

" _You're_ teaching at _Hogwarts?!_ "

It took a minute for Emrys to find his voice, "Well, yes. But now I must take my leave, as Ar-I mean… Hagrid, said he was going to leave on the train without me." A quick wave and a forced smile later, he was gone, having apparated from the yard.

"Bloke's a strange one, isn't he?" Ron commented, yelping when his mother smacked him upside the head, "OW! MUM!"

"We won't have any of that!" Molly scolded him, "he's Charlie's friend. And we need to focus on school supplies!"

On the way to Diagon Alley, Ron wouldn't let the matter drop. Charlie shared multiple sidelong glances and eyerolls with his two friends, although it seemed they were better equipped at handling Ron's incessant botherings than he was. He had half a mind to punch him in the gut with one swift fist, then thought the better of it. It wouldn't do to upset his mother during his visit.

And he was going back to Romania anyway, so he figured he could deal with his own brother for a mere twenty-four hours.

"Listen, Ron, if you want to get answers to your questions about Emrys, I'll tell you at dinner later!" Charlie barked, really just to get Ron to shut up. Although to be honest, at this point in the day, he was at the end of his rope. On his last nerve, as the Muggles sometimes said. He laughed at the notion; Muggles often said strange things.

Needless to say, he ended up not answering any of Ron's nor Harry's nor Hermione's questions, as he left to apparate back to Romania that night.


End file.
